Macopinion

Where has Marc been? (Part 2b)

by Marc Zeedar macopinion@designwrite.com

David Allen himself admits his system is in no way revolutionary or extraordinary. It's merely practical, pure common sense. Get organized and stay organized, that's all.

But he does have some extremely helpful tips and techniques for getting organized, so once you've made the decision to become organized, your next step is use some of his ideas to help.

Now there's a lot more to his system than what I'm describing here, but these are the concepts I found most helpful and insightful:

If a task will take less than two minutes, just do it
I'm somewhat taking this particular tip out of context. This is Allen's suggestion for dealing with items in your inbox (physical or email). When you process an item, you immediately either delete it, defer it (assign it to someone else to handle), archive it (into long-term storage), or add it to your Next Actions list (assign yourself a task). However, if the task can be completed in just a couple minutes, instead of adding to your Next Actions, just go ahead a do it right then instead.

I've expanded on Allen's idea and I'm using it throughout my daily life. For instance, now when I'm in the kitchen fixing supper and I see that the microwave has some food splatter, instead of thinking, "Oh, I need to remember to clean the microwave at some point," I just grab the sponge immediately and wipe it down. It just takes seconds, but in the old days I'd put it off because I wasn't in "cleaning mode" right then, and of course, by the time I got around to it, the mess would be harder to clean and I'd have lived with a dirty house in the meantime.

It's a simple technique but I'm impressed at what a difference it makes. Just invoking the two-minute rule means I'm getting a lot more done!

Separate date/time sensitive "To Dos" from general tasks
One of the worst habits most of us get into is using our calendar as a "To Do" list. Allen points out this is bad because most of those tasks are not date or time sensitive.

Have you ever written a "To Do" list and then rewritten it day after day, moving the incomplete items to a new day? That's because you no doubt put too much on your plate that first day and had to move the unfinished items.

According to Allen, only date- or time-critical items should be put on your calendar. When a phone call must be made at a certain time because that's when the person's available, you can't miss it. If you clutter your calendar with non-critical events, you'll miss deadlines.

Break "To Do" into Categories
The next important concept from Allen is to break your random "To Do" list into categories of tasks. This is simple but brilliant. You categorize the tasks based on your location and physical ability to do the work. How many times have you had your "To Do" list with you and thought, "Oh, I can't do that now, I need to be in my office at my computer."

Under Allen's system, you put work office-specific tasks into an "At Office" category. Telephone calls are in the "Calls" category. To remind you to clean the gutters at your house, put that in an "At Home" category. You can create as many categories as you need.

One important category is an "Errands" category. I love this one. In my system I have a "Groceries" subcategory, where I add grocery items as I think of them, as well as subcategories for other places I might need things, like the bank, post office, or various stores. Many of these things are not time-critical so I can add items as I think of them ("Ink for printer") and when I'm out and about I can check the list and see, "Oh, I need packing tape at Staples and I'll be right across the street so I'll also do that while I'm out."

By grouping your errands all together you can be much more efficient and you'll have an ideal place to put things you need to do that aren't date critical.

Break "To Do" into Specific Actions
One of the biggest mistakes I made with my old "To Do" system was not being specific on the tasks I need to do. Allen has the simple (but again, brilliant) idea of breaking tasks into physical actions. "What is the next physical action to move this project along?" he asks repeatedly. For such a simple thing, it's a concept with revolutionary reverberations.

Most of the time the "next physical action" is something simple, like a phone call, an email, finding some information, or taking one little step out of a long walk. When a huge project is broken down in such simple steps, it suddenly appears manageable. No, the whole project can't be done at once, but if you can do a little bit, move it forward a step, you've accomplished something, and you feel better about the project and your life.

This is an approach I am eager to apply in my life. I have too many vague tasks like "Do Taxes" or "Work on Z-Write" that give no indication of what the next step will be. That means that just to get started on the project I've got to sit down and do some analysis just to figure out that next physical action, and most of the time that's overwhelming and I end up doing nothing at all on the project. There are always other things that seem more urgent and suddenly months (or even years) have gone by with little or no progress.

Weekly review
The final important concept Allen demonstrates is the weekly review. It is here that you double-check your system, making sure you are following through with everything, that your lists are up-to-date, that your inbox is processed, that you haven't dropped the ball anywhere.

I will admit that there have been times in the past when I've tried to get organized, but it has never lasted. I realize now that the reason was because I never had a weekly review period. I'd decide something, like how my books were to be organized, but a few months later I'm just randomly throwing books wherever there's space and everything's a mess again. Multiply that times my entire office and everything in the house and after a short period of organization I'm back to chaos. Now, with a weekly review, I can catch bad habits forming and stop them before they take over. I can make sure that my system is in place and continuing to function properly.

Another key benefit of the weekly review is that it allows your system the flexibility to grow and adapt to changes in lifestyle. As you examine your system each week, if you see an aspect that isn't working well for you, you can change it. So you're not stuck in some rigid, rule-based system that dictates your entire life -- instead you're in a system that helps you life your life without stress and chaos and problems.

Conclusion
Allen's book is excellent for anyone suffering from life overload. While his individual ideas are not revolutionary, the system as a whole is brilliant, and I love the way he explains the reasoning behind his advice. He gives examples and demonstrates the practical benefits, and his ideas are flexible, so it's not a "my way or no way" approach.

I'm still learning and attempting to put into practice the concepts of Getting Things Done. In my next article I'll reveal some of what I've done, and I think you'll be impressed. I've accomplished more in the past few weeks than in the past two years!

Next Time: Marc applies GTD principles to his life and reveals the incredible results.

macopinion@designwrite.com